Jason Aldean’s ‘Old Boots, New Dirt’ hits No. 1

For the second consecutive week a country king rules the charts.

A week after Blake Shelton opened at No. 1, Jason Aldean topped the Billboard 200 after his latest release, “Old Boots, New Dirt,” sold more than 278,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Aldean’s latest No. 1 – his last album, 2012’s “Night Train,” also topped the charts – logged the third-largest sales week of the year behind Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories” (383,000) and fellow country crooner Eric Church’s “The Outsiders” (288,000).

“Old Boots, New Dirt” is also the biggest opening of the year from an independently distributed album, as Billboard points out.

After landing the coveted spot as musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” rising Irish singer-songwriter Hozier sees his self-titled debut open at No. 2 after moving 58,000 copies.

Previous No. 1 albums from Shelton, Barbra Streisand, and Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga continue to hold steady in the Top 10, despite a number of new releases.

Streisand’s duets album, “Partners,” landed at No. 3 with Bennett and Gaga’s collaborative jazz effort “Cheek to Cheek” coming in at No. 4. Shelton’s “Bringing Back the Sunshine” slipped to No. 6.

Other new releases making an entry on the chart include Weezer’s latest effort “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” (No. 5), Stevie Nicks’ “24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault” (No. 7), “X-Factor” champs Alex & Sierra’s debut “It’s About Us” (No. 8) and R&B songstress Keyshia Cole’s “Point of No Return” (No. 9).

Rising R&B singer Tinashe’s buzzed-about debut, “Aquarius,” landed outside of the Top 10 – it debuted at No. 17 -- after moving more than 18,000 copies but opened at No. 3 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.

Twitter: @GerrickKennedy